This invention relates to a process and apparatus for the gasification of a combustible material in the solid, liquid or slurry form.
In the gasification of a heavy hydrocarbon such as a crude oil, a reduced crude oil or a vacuum bottom, it is known to use an apparatus composed of two columns each containing a fluidized bed of solid particles. The feed stock oil is fed to one of the columns functioning as a cracking zone, where it undergoes thermal cracking by contact with the fluidized solid particles. The gas product is withdrawn from the cracking zone for recovery while the cracking residue is introduced, together with the solid particles, into the other column functioning as a heat-up zone, for combustion of the residue and for heating the solid particles. The solid particles, regenerated in the heat-up zone, are recycled to the cracking zone.
Although the gasification with the prior art apparatus can produce a gas of a high calorific value, the apparatus is large and complicated and is especially ill-suited for small-scale gasification.